Hitoki Iwase was taken off the active roster today in order to get a tune-up at Ni-gun.

Said pitching coach Hiroshi Gondo, "It is a regretful demotion. I spoke to Iwase after the game yesterday and I made the decision. Then I told the manager. This is to help him get back to throwing with confidence. Closer's pitch under a lot of emotional pressure. There is no timetable [for his return]. I will talk to him after a week. Is it ok to bring him up, or not. Right now, I do not know how long it will take. I did not think sending him to Ni-gun was necessary yesterday, but he approached me. He must be that prepared."

FWIW: Gondo said the following to reporters after last night's game: "We will continue to use [Iwase]. Iwase is Chunichi's trump card. If we do not get our trump card back to where he should be, we will not be able to keep up [with Yomiuri]."